Name: Raphael Lacroix

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Occupation: Second Estate

Social Class: Noble

Financial situation: Wealthy, owns much land and lives with his brother. Doesn't know much about how to manage the money and land; Parents suddenly passed away, leaving Raphael with unbearable amount of money. Does not pay taxes.

Appearance: Tall and pale,white skin. Dresses very well, with dark hair and brown eyes. Appears just like his age.

Location: Neuilly

Habitual locations: With his friends, at his mansion. Goes to many different mansions; usually his friends mansions to maintain good relationships.

Daily routine: Very lazy kind of life. Wakes up whenever he wants to. Suits up everyday as a noble. Usually starts his day off with a fancy brunch with his friends. Raphael doesn't really skirt around Paris, unless there is a special occasion. He hosts many parties with people from various places

Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits: Raphael was raised under not much care. His parents were always busy trying to maintain his family and wealth. Therefore, Raphael is very careless and sloppy on many things. He also disrespects the third estate.

Past/individual-family history: Even though Raphael was raised carelessly, his family was very enlightened. Every family member was educated at high level. Raphael's parents continuously bought more and more lands. However his parents were murdered by one of their dealers, Raphael detests land owners and dealers.

Family: Raphael has one younger brother(Nathaniel Lacroix), who is extremely smart and educated. Raphael is not married, he enjoys relationships with many woman and only trusts in his brother.

Social relations with your own and other classes (people you deal with or know about in the class, AND your opinions and feelings about them): Good relationships with his friends who are also nobles. Raphael also enjoys both attending and hosting parties for the nobles. Raphael does not respect the third estate. Raphael thinks of the third estate as dumb peasants who were born to work.

Religion: Raphael does not have a religion.

Education: Even though Raphael was raised under not much care, Raphael was educated by brilliant teachers.

Languages you speak: Raphael speaks French and English.

Main privileges and/or hardships: Massive amount of land, no need to pay taxes.

Portrait:

Raphael.jpeg


Journal Entry #1: 1789, July 14
Today seemed to be a very normal day for me in the beginning. I woke up around 10:00 AM, and strolled out to my living room. My friends were already there, enjoying the brunch that was being served by my servants. As I stepped in with my evening gown dragging across the wooden floor, Roland saw me and greeted me. My younger brother, Nathaniel was there, too.
"Raphael! Ready for hosting a party? This one must be special for you. I'm really sorry about your loss." Roland said.
"Hosting parties and arranging events is the only thing I'm good at.. I'm sure tonight's party is going to be great. I just dreamt about my parents... I can't believe what had happened." I said.
"Enjoy your brunch. I'm heading out." Nathaniel said as he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

Time flew by as I chatted with my friends. Even though my parents had passed away the day before yesterday, everything seemed to be too normal. I was having my usual day with my friends, endlessly talking about how annoying the third estate could be. After a few hours, my servants were busily walking around my mansion to prepare for my party. I wanted this party to be special; a party that would honor my parents to the public about how great they were and how I am going to try my best to be as amazing as they were. As the darkness approached, many families began to enter my mansion. One of the families I have invited was the Boucher family, I believe my father knew one of them as he was dealing with land and money-related issues.

Out of the people I have invited to my party, one girl caught my attention. Her name was Anne Boucher, a young girl who seemed very clever and was full of energy. Anne seemed to be in a similar situation as I was. Although her parents did not pass away, Anne still inherited their wealth. She seemed very excited touring my mansion, continuously asking me about the numerous halls and rooms and even about my family. She reminded me of one of my friends, Chloe... A girl full of energy and curiosity; her energy seemed to fill me with energy as well. As I was chatting with Anne, I kept on wondering where my brother, Nathaniel would be. He had still not returned when the party was about to end.

When everyone seemed to be having a good time, Roland stormed into the ball room.
"The city is full of madness! The Bastille prison has been attacked by an angry mob. Raphael! Your brother Nathaniel is out there somewhere... You must hurry!" Roland exclaimed.
As I was hearing this shocking news, the only thing I was thinking about was Nathaniel. He was all what I had left with me after my parents had passed away. I hurried out the door and started running towards the Bastille prison. As I was getting close to the prison, I saw freed prisoners and peasants holding guns and weapons. All of them seemed furious, determined to do something meaningful. I saw few dead bodies of the guards getting stepped on near the entrance of the prison. I was shaking and I was getting dizzy.. I had to get out of here. When I was able to fall unconscious, someone picked me up and helped me to get to my mansion. This is wrong, I thought.
'Why is everyone so angry? What could have led them this furious?' I asked myself these questions as Nathaniel dropped me off on my bed and started to talk to me. All I was thinking was that this rebellion was wrong. This rebellion had to be stopped, somehow and someway. Exhausted, I lied on my bed; wondering where Anne would be right now and how she would think about this rebellion. The world has become insane, I uttered as I fell asleep.



Journal Entry #2: 1793, September 3rd
It has been nearly eight months since my last journal entry. I have lived everyday feeling unsafe. Ever since the “reign of terror” started, I have tried my best to flee from France, once my homeland but now this unstable country. Nathaniel and I were trying to escape France. However, we were captured near the border of France by French soldiers and Jacobins working with the Committee of Public Safety.

As we were trying to escape France, we met a woman named Chloé Vigée. She was hiding inside a cottage with her husband. She was two years older than I am, and she seemed exhausted from running away. Just like me, she seemed to have been trying to run away ever since the 'reign of terror' had started.

At first, Nathaniel and I did not trust Chloé and her husband... However we decided that helping each other out would be the best thing we could do since Chloé, her husband, and we were all nobles. We were all generally under the same problem. As nobles, we were the enemy of the Jacobins and the Paris mob controlled by Robespierre. We had to escape from France, escape from this madness. I didn’t even want to think about what would happen if we were arrested. Many of our noble friends had been arrested and guillotined without trials or reason for arrest. If our king could be executed in such a horrible way, then there would be no way for us to survive if we stayed in France. We decided to run across the border the following night.

The wind blew gently as we crawled slowly towards the border. Nathaniel and I found hope when we were approaching the border...There was the German border; it was so close! We almost succeeded to runaway... but we were captured by the Committee of Public Safety. Two burly men took us by the shoulders and led us to prison.

And now, it has been exactly five months since I first entered this unpleasant, dirty jail cell with my brother. I have not seen Chloé and her husband or learned of their fates. Sometimes I hear woman crying in the jail cells... And every time I wonder if one of them is be Anne Boucher or Chloé Vigée.

But then, a miracle happened. Today, Robespierre was executed. And I was free. Just like that, I was free. In fact, most of the nobles were freed from prison. Perhaps it was God giving punishment to Robespierre for ending the power of the Catholic church, for creating the Cult of Reason to replace it. It has been too long ever since I have breathed such fresh air... I was exhausted as I hurried out to the streets. As soon as I stepped out of prison, I was determined to host a party.



Journal Entry #3: 1798, December 1
Honestly, I am very glad that I am still alive. Now that over five years has passed since I've stepped out of prison, the things were not the same as it used to be. As soon as Nathaniel and I steeped out of prison, we hurried back to our mansion. Standing infront the main gate of the mansion, we were shocked to see our mansion totally wasted. Once my grand mansion was known as one of the most fancy mansions in Paris... how did it end up like this? It was obvious. The dumb third estate dogs would've trashed my mansion. When I got inside, several of the windows were shattered and most of the jewelry was stolen; I did not care. Wealth I could get back; I felt good for myself as long I was still breathing with my brother Nathaniel.

Around three years ago, a kid named Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the royalist rebels by the cannonade. It was quite impressive. I never knew there was someone who was actually capable of doing such thing. And he was exalted by the French citizens and was titled a hero; soon after that, Napoleon led his army over the alps into Italy and swept Italy. When I first heard about how he actually climbed the Alps with his army to attack Italy, I literally laughed out loud for five minutes... But now that I think about it that plan was quite remarkable. All of the French citizens had hope in Napoleon; I did, too.

When Napoleon returned from his journey from Egypt, Napoleon "couped"(coup d'e'tat)France. In other words, Napoleon 'blew the state'. He suddenly took power over France, using his victories over other nations to support him. Last month, Napoleon also came up with the three consuls...The consuls were elected by voting. I guess the revolution is finally over, after all. When I was back to my life trying to organize my remaining lands which was only a small amount left over, a noble man named Zinedine Zidane helped me organize my financial stuff. Because I was nebulous about how to manage my money and land, this man was quite a help for me.

Now that I think about the Revolution, I think the revolution had a very big impact on my life. The revolution did not make anything better for me; everything was negative. I mean, I was in prison for god's sake! All I needed to do before the revolution blew out was keep calm and party on; hosting great parties for us nobles. But now that I think of it, I think it was better for my parents to have passed away... If they had not passed away, they would have suffered more than me. The reign of terror was as if living in hell itself. I don't even want to remind myself about the reign of terror... I felt unsafe every day. I was not able to host a good party ever since the revolution has started... To be honest, I don't even want to host parties anymore. I will try my best to enjoy my life as it is right now; living quietly and living my own pleasant life.Carpe Diem!